Have you done a price break down of what it costs you to have the goat vs. what you would pay for the milk? Our first daughter weaned to cows milk but seems to have a sensitivity to it. I plan to wean our second daughter to goats milk which is pricey to say the least. I grew up on a dairy farm so I’m quite familiar with milking. Looks like it’s probably more fun than milking a cow. How much milk do you get each milking/day?

I love your story about milking goats. This is one of my sweetest memories, teaching my children to milk our goats when we lived on the farm. We milked goats for 15 years. We started with goats and several years later added in milking Jersey cows to our daily chores. We started with registered Nubians for about $400. Then as the local 4 H kids graduated we bought their goats to help them go on to college. Soon we found ourself with lots and lots of goats. We used to milk nubians, saneens, oberhalsli, alpines, and toggenburgs. Each goat milked about 1/2 gallon to 1 gallon per milking. They gave more soon after kidding and less when they were closer to drying off for the next kidding. We bred them once a year, in the fall, to kid in Jan.-March. Their gestation is only 5 months, and they come into heat about every 18 days until they are bred. Our favorite milk was the nubian and nubian saneen cross. My husband and oldest son both cannot digest pasturized milk so we got goats to have milk for our family. But we learned they can drink any milk as long as it is fresh “RAW” and not pasturized. After about 5 years of just goat milk, we began milking Jersey cows too. Jersey cows milk about 3 gallons a milking. The Nubian goat milk and the Jersey cow milk are very similar in taste but there is more of it. A Jersey cow will cost around $800 on the low end and $2000 on the medium end. Of corse the costs go way up if you choose fancy cows and the same is true for goats, the better the pedigree, the higher the price. For folks who wonder if they will like goat milk, I always recomend they start with a nubian as the milk is so similar to Jersey cow milk. Goats do require good fencing to keep them safe. They also require regular foot care and a few shots each year. This was easy to do when we had just a few, but when we got over 200 goats on our farm, the foot care was a huge chore! But I loved my goats. I used to take a walk on the property and sing, and they would follow me. We would go for a walk toghether. It was so cute. I often had a new baby goat in the kitchen too if it needed bottle fed. Goats are a wonderful pet. They provide lots of enjoyment and food for your family. They require little but give back so much!

I was looking at my FB page this morning and somehow ended up over here. My 12 year old son comes down and is reading over my shoulder (insert quick talk about courtship, thankyouverymuch!) and saw the goat-milking link. Which led to a discussion about which we should get when we get our “bigger” house–goats or cows. He thinks we should get Mini-cows as a compromise. But he’s pretty sure he can handle the milking.

I milk two goats, with another one supposed to come in milk this year (she’s a yearling). They’re all dried off at the moment, but at their peak they were giving about 6 litres/quarts per day altogether. I know that isn’t very good for goats, but 6 litres, times 7 days…adds up! I was making cheese about every other day!

For our family, we need the goat milk because Dad is allergic to cow’s milk…so it’s really helpful to have our own goats. And I do enjoy escaping the house and being outside some!